Japan’s “sayonara tax” is getting a major increase. First introduced in 2019 at ¥1,000 (about US$9 at the time), the departure fee charged to international travelers leaving the country by air or sea will rise to ¥3,000 beginning on July 1. While the tax is tripling in yen terms, the weaker Japanese currency means the new fee is currently the equivalent of about $18, roughly double what U.S. travelers were paying when the tax was first introduced.
While it makes that trip to Japan cost a little more, travelers should ultimately be the ones to benefit from the tax over the long term. The government plans to use the revenue generated to expand and enhance the country’s tourism infrastructure.
Collected funds will support the maintenance of public works, critical infrastructure at airports like more facial recognition at gates and seaports to speed up the passport control process, restoration of historic assets, and the creation of online tourist resources.
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the additional revenue will also help address overtourism challenges at some of the country’s most popular destinations, where record tourism levels have raised concerns among local residents. The hope is to help travelers get out of the main cities of Tokyo and Kyoto to discover the rest of what the country has to offer, whether it’s by promoting less-visited regions or making it easier to reach them by train.
All international tourists will be charged the tax, but there are a few exemptions: children under the age of two, anyone leaving Japan via air or sea within 24 hours of arrival, and people who enter Japan due to bad weather or unavoidable circumstances won’t be charged.
Japan is hardly the only country that charges travelers departure taxes. Australia tacks on a $70 (US$50) “Passenger Movement Charge” to all airfares for flights departing the country, and you’ll pay $28 when you leave Anguilla via air or $36 by boat, as well as an extra $30 when you fly out of Cambodia.
This article was originally published in 2019 and was updated on June 3, 2026, by Shayla Martin to include current information.
